Wilbue f



(No Model.) A Y W. P. OSBORNE.

BUSTLB. b No. 376,394. Patented Jan. 10, 1888.

UNITED STATES PATENT (OFFICE.

WILBUR F. OSBORNE, OF ANSONIA, CONNECTICUT.

BUSTLE.

SPECIPICATION forming part of Letters Patent N o. 376,394, dated January10, 1888.

' Application filed September 19, 1887. Serial No) 250,066. (No model.)

.T0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILBUR F. Osi3oasn, of Ansonia, in the county of NewHaven and State of Connecticut, have invented a new Improvement inBustles; and I do hereby declare the following, when taken in connectionwith accoxnpanying drawings and the letters of ref erence markedthereon, to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, andwhich said drawings constitute part of this specification, andrepresent, in-

Figure 1, a side view of the bustle complete; Fig. 2, a front view ofthe same; Fig. 3, a vertical section of the same, showing the spring;Fig. 4, the blank for the one part, I, of the clip; Fig. 5, the blankfor the other part, K, of the clip; Fig. 6, an edge view of the clip,showing it as applied and enlarged; Fig. 7, a side view of the clip asapplied, enlarged; Fig. 8, one of the bustle-spriugs detached; Fig. 9, amodification of the bustle-spring; Fig. 10, a m'odificatioh; Fig. 11, amodification showing the invention as adapted to different styles ofbdstle.

This invention relates to ah improvement in that class of bustles whichare made from sev eral U-shaped elastic bows, the ends respectivelyunited at a common center, and so that they may swing toward or fromeach other to bring them accordingly into a collapsed or expanded form,and so that as the wearer sits the bustle will collapse against thebody, but

, expand to its normal position immediately on My invention relates to apeculiar distending-spring which permits the collapse of the bustle, butreacts, when free, to expand it.

The bustle, as common in this class of bustles, is made of several U-shaped bows, A, B, C, D, and E, more or less. The bows are made fromflat.wire, and the several ends at each side are brought together to acommon pvot, a, where they are joined, and so that they may turn thereontoward or from each other, and the several bows are connected by aflexible tape, F, or otherwise. The how A is the how which stands nextthe body, and is provided with the usual strap or band, G, by which itis secured around the body.

To give a -loearing upon the body broader than the edge of the how Awould otherwise give, I apply to each side of the body-how A. abearing-piece, H, which are flat pieces of metal or any suitablematerial, and may be the same as that from which the bows are made,

and these bearing-pieces are secnred to the how A by clips of peculiarconstruction. The clips are made in two parts, blanks for which arerepresented in Figs. 4 and 5. The parts are both made from sheet metal.The one part, I, is in the shape of a cross, the two longer arms b bhaving a like hole, d, at the end. The other arms, e e, extend at rightangles thereto, or nearly so, and should be no more in length than halfthe Width of the second part, K, of the clip. The second part, K, issimply a flat strip of metal, in length somewhat less than twice theWidth of the bearing pieces H. The two longer arms of the clip are benttoward each other, and so that they may be set onto the vertical how A,as seen in Figs. 6 and 7, the holes d d corresponding, and so that aneyelet may be introduced through the said holes and through the uprightas a means of secnring the clip to the how A.

The part K is set upon the under or reverse side of the part I, and thearms e are turned back and closed upon the part K, as indicated in Figs.6 and 7, which firmly unites the two parts of the clip and holds thepart H in a plano substantially at right angles to the plano of the twoarms b b. The part K is bent around the part H and closed thereon, asseen in Fi g. 6. This firmly unites the bearing-piece H to the verticalhow A. Two or more such clips may be employed, as represented in Fig. 1.These clips may be made as articles of manufacture and sold independentof the bustle, to be applied by manufacturers of bustles. Thebearing-pieces are applicable to various styles of bustles having avertical how against the body.

A spring is desirable to distend the bustle and hold. it in thatcondition, yet yield to the collapse or contraction of the bustle. Thespring which I have devised for this purpose is of V shape, made fromwire, fg, Fig. 8, representing the two legs. At the apex h one or moreconvolutions are preferably introduced into the wire, so as to form aneye or loop, and in each of the free ends of the two legs a TOO loop, i,is formed by bcnding the wire back 1 to contract the spring. Then thereaction of upon itself. One of these springs is applied to each side ofthe bustle, and, preferably, upon the inside. The apex of the spring isfixed to one of the intermediate bowssay C, as seen in Fig. Sby anysuitable pvotthrough the how and loop of the spring. The legs extendone,f, toward the arm A, where its loop embraces a stud, Z, and theother leg, g, extends, say, to the lower how, E, where its loop embracesa stud, m. These loops allow longitudinal play of the legs of thespring, and so that as the bustle is eollapsed, as indicatcd in brokenlines, Fig. 3, the two logs of the spring will be brought nearertogether, the loops sliding over their respective studs to permit suchmovement. Then, when left free, the spring rcacts and throws the bows AE asnnder, and the several bows, being connected, are correspondiuglydistended.

Instead of attaching the springs to the bows with loops at the free endsof the legs of the spring and the pvot at the apex, the lcgsn1ayterminate iu a short loop, a, (see Fig. 9,) and the apex made in theform of a loop, r, which will embrace an intcrmediate howsay C and so asto slide thercon. The loops a n being respcctively secured to a pvot onthe extreme bows A E, the action of the spring will -be the same asbefore, except that now the loop 7' of the spring will slide upon thecentral how, while the two ends will be fixed; or the spring may be madewith a loop at its apcx and at both ends, as seen in Fig. 10-the loop atthe apex arranged to slide upon the intermediate how and the loops atthe ends to slide on the pivots. The collapse in any case brings theends of the springs nearer together, so as the spring cxpands thebnstle.

I have represented the bustle as of that class having all the bowsterminating at a pvot common to all; but it will be understood that thesame spring is applcable to other bustles in which the bows are pivotedseparately to the body-pieces, as in Fig. 11. My invention is thereforenot to be nnderstood as limited to any particular class of bustlcs.

I claim The hcreixrdcscribed clip, consisting of the one part, I, in theform of a cross, the two arms b b ol' the cross turned toward each otherand brought into substantially parallel planes, the second part, K,arranged upon the reverse side of the part I, and the other two arms, ce, of the part I closed upon the said part K, and so as to secure thesaid part K to the part I in a plane at rightangles to the plane of thesaid arms Z) b, substantially as described.

2. A bustle consisting of several bows pivoted by their ends to abody-how, combined with a V-shapcd spring, its two legs connected to twoof the bows, which said two bows are thcmselveshinged together betweenthe points of connection of the two logs of said spring, and the apex ofthe said spring connected to a bow intermediate or between the said twobows to which the legs are connected, the said spring being constructedat its ends with loops to form said connections, substantially asdescribed.

W. F. OSBORNE.

\Vitnesses:

E. C. Dnnw, A. T. TERRELL.

